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Leader (1850-1860), 17th December 1853, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1218, Untitled Article

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    • KMtawL of literature do
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      Kmtawl Of Literature Do

      KMtawL of literature do

      Untitled Article

      The new number of the Irish Quarterly Review opens with Jan article on Limited Liability in Partnerships , which will aid in the enlightenment * of our legislators on this extremely important topic , one fraught with the interests of the whole commercial world . It is with' some pride that we observe a view originally proposed for English adoption in these columns , and advocated with persistent ardour , now becoming the generalview of political writers . We do riot of course for one moment arrogate to ourselves the having in any way created this movement ; but we take some pride in Jiairing been the first among journals which pointed out the French law of ( partnership , en commandite , as one eminently adapted to our industrial condition .

      There is also an amusing biography of Mackxtnt , the actor and dramatist , in -this Review , which our dramatic readers will do well to look ~* after . 1 xLa . ck . x , ts has the honour of having restored ShylocJc ^ to his S hakspe arian -dignity : — . " His first character , after his trial , was Ramillie , in Fielding ' s Miser ; but he was now upon the path of fame and fortune . He was the Peachum , of the Beggar ' s Opera ; Scivib , an the Beaux Stratagem ; the Marplot , of the Busy Body , with all the full round of other important parts , and his crowning triumph and success occurred on the 14 th of February , 1741 . For many years Lord Lansdowne ' s Jew of Venice , altered from Shakspeare ' s Merchant of Venice ^ had been performed , and the latter entirely neglected . It seemed to Macklin a very great error , that this fine tragedy should be forgotten , and the great poet ' s design completely perverted by making Shylock a low comedy part ; he accordingly resolved t character seir

      -o aanere closely to Shakspeare ? s text , to take the on mm ., ana placed the piece in rehearsal , At the rehearsals he merely repeated the words of his part , leaving the actors in entire ignorance of his intended mode of representation . The performers , the manager , nearly all the friends of the theatre , predicted a failure , but when the appointed 14 th of February arrived , Mackhn was resolute : not so , however , his brother actors , and he " was forced to endure the frowns of Portia , Mrs . Clive , and the lamentations of Antonio . > Qoin . The house was ' crowded from the opening of the doors , and the curtain ro se amidst the most dreadful of all Jiwful silence , the stillness of a multitude . The Jew enters in the Unrd scene , and from that point , to the famous scene with Tubal , all passed off with conthe actor

      siderable applause . Here , however , and in the trial scene , was triumphant , and in the applause of a thousand voices the curtain dropped . The play was re peated for nineteen successive nights with increased success . On the third night of representation all eyes were directed to the stage-box , where sat a little , deformed , man ; and whilst others watched Ms gestures , as if to learn his opinion of the performers , he was gazing intently upon Shylock , and as the actor panted , in broken accents of rage , and sorrow , and avarice' * Go , Tubal , fee me an officer , bespeak him a fortnight before : I will have the heart of him , if he forfeit ; for were he out of Venice , I can make what merchandise I will : go , Tubal , . and meet me at our synagogue ; go , good Tubal ; at our synagogue , Tubal f —the little man was seen to rise , and , leaning from the box , as Macklin passed it , he

      whispered—This is the Jew , That Shakspcaie drew . ' " The speaker was Alexander Pope , and in that age , from his judgment in criticism there was no appeal . " Thus were genras and discrimination triumphant , and so they ever triumph . Thus , Mrs . Pritchard , the great Lady Macbeth , had ever , in the sleeping walking scene , held the lamp in one hand , and touched its palms with the fingers of the other , and so represented the

      washing of the ' damned spot : ' but great Siddons resolved that she would depart from this ¦ conception , and though Sheridan wept , and prayed , and entreated , that she would return to . the established mode of representation , she -was immovablo in her resolution—she laid the lamp upon the table , passed hand over hand in the strong will , yet despairing hope , to cleanse that stain which ' all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten . ' Did the nudienco hiss , or "laugh—no—night was around them—the chill of the tomb wasupon all—the great Demon woman , yet the poor criininah conscience-driven , was before them , she who was , even on sleep , pursued by fiends , and in tho— be clean ?

      ' What , will these hands ne ' er ' they knew the secret of the sleeper ' s gesture—and satin atony silence—wondering at tho genius of tho poot—tho genius of tho actress . Thus too , when Edmund Kean resolved to play this samp ShylocR , as man never played it before , they all told him it could not succeed —ho attends the lust rehearsal—goes home to his poor lodgings—dines on tho beefsteak and pot of porter which his fond , true , long-suffering wife hud prewired—returns to the theatre , carrying his wig , his collar , and his old black silk stockings in a pocket handkerchief—he goes on foot through tho snow , enters upon tho stage—playwout his part—leaves the theatre amidst the shouts of all , and glowing with his triumph , rushes to his home—wild with joy , cries to his wife—* Oh , Mary ! my fortune ' s mude : now you shall ride in your carriugo 'and snatching little Charles from his cradle , ho exclaims , whilst ntptuously kissing him , 'Now , my boy , you shall go to Eton . ' Thus does the ' Aut Ca ^ ar , nut nullus' genius triumph . "

      In the next number of thin Review there is to be a biography of IJamm the novelist , and in the present number those piquant , anecdotical , papers , The Streets of Dublin , are continued . The editor shows sagacity in thus ^ quitting the beaten track of Quarterly Keviews which others nfcill preserve , although the whole spirit and purpose of the Reviews have changed . From the moment the Review ceased to be a Review , and became a quarterly publication of Essays , the old restrictions became unnecessary . The lletnte des Deux Mondes is the pattern editors should have before their eyes . We ' have once before suggested ( and we repeat tho suggestion because it seems to us not without importance ) , that considering the impossibility of establishing a journal of Scientific ' Memoirs , translated from the finest continental productions , our , Quarterly Reviews would do well in Home . sort to fill such a place by giving insertion to translations of very remarkable

      scientific papers . Apropos of science , Dr . Fmciviciucit Licks , of Leeds , in u private letter to US , '" writes : " I have just boon , making an experiment in relation to the mooted question of Spontaneous Combustion , which , as I am writing to you , I may as well mention . Having had a stomach for the last woven years preserved in alcohol ( not my own ! for that I preserve without , ns you know , but one taken at a post-mortem from a drunkard , who was drowned ) , 1 thought that , as it had been well-steeped in alcoholics both before and after death , it ought , when fired , to show at least some combustive behaviour akin

      to the case of poor KrooTz—if his happened to be a ' record of fact . I br \ the head of the vessel and set fire to the pint of alcohol in and around \ k organ . The spirit burnt away , and as it burnt it ¦ strayed the upper part f the stomach , but when all the spirit was consumed the stomach was st"ll there—stubbornly incombustible , as I expected . " . This is an interesting record , establishing a fact , which , indeed did require fresh evidence , to any one conversant with the structure of the bod but -which to the general reader seemed inconceivable . We said that the living body could not be steeped in alcohol ; and , moreover , if it were steened it alcohol it would not burn . The experiment of Dr . Lees will , > e hone suffice to convince the sceptical general reader .

      Untitled Article

      There have been disputes about Homer ' s existence ; William Teix has been proved a myth , and ingenious men have shown that we have no proof of Shakspeabe being altogether unmytbleal ; but what will Glasgow say to her Axexandeb Smith being considered a mere nom de plume i as Barby . Cobkwauj is for Mr . Pboctob ? There is something so prosaic in the name of Smith ( " which is not precisely an Italian name , '' as a friend " once gravely reinarked ) that America may be excused if her citizens get up a theory of historical scepticism , based primarily on this prosaism , and secondarily on . the " suspicious circumstance" of Amixandeb Smith having been the name under which Kossuth sailed for England . We are not jesting . That theory has been started , and Kossuth is credited with a Life Drama .

      Untitled Article

      Among the few French books which call for the attention of our readers , let us name the eighth volume of Sainte Beuve : Les Causeries du Lundi Not , indeed , so charming as the other volumes we have from time to time announced , yet more delightful than any other volume of criticisms coming from Paris . It contains articles on Gibbon , Prince be Ligke , Gabeieixe d'Estbees , Rcedebek , Mignet , Sujlly , Mezebay , Bebnis , Guy , Patlv , Malhebbe , and others ; and , as Gbay wished for a sofa and eternally new novels , so will the literary readers desire eternally new volumes of Les Causeries du Lundi .

      Let us also name Madame Emix-e be Gibabdin ' s repubhcation of Le Vi comte de Launay ' s Correspondance Parisienne . Lovers of light , witty , gossamer-gossip will remember her Lettres Parisiennes , which were -the feuilleton chronicles of 1836 , 7 , 8 , and 9 . The present volume is a continuation , and tells the gossipping , unwritten history of Paris during 1840-48 . It is full of anecdotes , mots ,. ingenious paradoxes , and things " so French . " There is a chapter on The Duty of a Pretty Woman to be Pretty , which should be read by all women , and all who admire them ; that is to say by the whole world . We were greatly tickled by her picture of weddings , which , as she says , en general pechent par les oncles ; danscette noce il y avait des effets d ' oncles mervetlleux I ( which in a rough translation means that weddings m general are spoiled by the uncles ; but in this wedding there were some marvellous " uncle effects" ) .

      Untitled Article

      It is a difficult and delicate matter that of reconciling the claims of the " flesh" and the claims of the " spirit "—to fulfil your " contracts with Government , " and fulfil all the Church demands . The Directors of the General Screw Company are in this position . They are appealed to by four clergymen on the sin of coaling ships on Sundays . r J hey admit the tin , deeply deplore it , but what is to be done ?—have they not made a " contract with Government ? " There is something very instructive in the correspondence which passed on this point . The clergy paint a graphic and somewbafc ludicrous picture . They complain that divine service ( like dinner ) was

      " provided" for the passengers ; but during the whole time this provision was partaken of , the sailors were ahoy-lioy-wg at tho ropes ( ahoys , we will suppose , not altogether unaccompanied by endearing curses ) , and not only thinning the " attendance on divine service , " but noisily mingling their accents with the mild parsonic intonations . What a picture . ' curses here , and threats of hellfire there : damnations plentiful as blackberries ! Not content with the picture , they attempt to reason , and as usual rum their case . They argue thus : Coaling a ship need only occupy one day m each week ; if that one day were sacrificed with fthe express purpose o " honouring the Sabbath , " these clergymen confidently assure the Directors that " no real loss will follow in the long run ; " so that , after all , tho selfia * commercial motive is thrust in advance . We are advised to _ honour

      Sabbath that we may in the long run be gainers : wo bait with a gud ££ to catch a piko . And this is what they call taking " higher ground I * £ directors so appealed to would , on figures beiitg produced , of course reat iy respond . Meanwhile they point out that prayer is desirable , but contrac ^ are imperative ; if the captains can ho arrange , matters as to give « P ^ day in seven to prayer and petitions for gain in the long run , and yet " ° . longer on the voyage than the contract stipulates , they , as good Chris J 1 Directors , will heartily say , be it ho ! Notothcrwino .

      Untitled Article

      BOOKS 13 EFO 11 E OUR TRIBUNAL . Asa . readers of tho French Revolution will have noted how , ^ "Jftlioned priaonera appearing before Fouqiiiiob Tinviivj-io had to undergo a i «» o nn , ne , examination , others were sent to the guillotine in batches—a gluuco , joU 3 and a nourish of the pen Builiced for them . Yet their crime was ns » ^ ^ as the crime of those who were honoured with a longer trial ; it w " . r ^ crime , but the criminal thus honoured . In one case we see the prw

      Untitled Article

      Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police . They not make laws —they interpret and try to" enforce them . —JSdinbxirgh Eeview .

      Untitled Article

      1218 THE LEAlDEH . { BATtiiiMY ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 17, 1853, page 1218, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2017/page/18/